‘Barboursville’ is coffee-table book worth a sip

By Barbara Rich Daily Progress correspondent
Published: November 2, 2008

Many instructive mottoes of the past have become as arcane as the typewriter I refuse to surrender in the face of technological miracles of screen and lap. A couple lend themselves to the book at hand.

“Beauty is as beauty does,” and “You can’t judge a book by its cover” are both relevant and irrelevant when applied to Chiles T.A. Larson’s generous coffee table book: “Barboursville Vineyards — Crafting Great Wines Inspired by Spirits of the Past.”

Ah, coffee table books. Those glossy, outsize tomes often take up residence in living rooms, and remain uncracked, unread and unloved symbols of their owners’ good taste, or that of those who bestowed them. Coffee table books’ main purpose in life seems to lie in impressing others with their very glossiness, but this is not the, um, spirit in which Larson created his literary and pictorial offering.

“Barboursville Vineyards” not only does beauty proud, but its jacket is an accurate preview of a fascinating account of some of our local historical treasures which had — and, indeed, still have — decidedly non-local connections.

The book takes its name from the community known as Barbour — neighbor to Monticello and Montpelier. Thomas Jefferson designed the Manor House for James Barbour, and he, Jefferson and Philip Mazzei, along with fellow Italians, the Zomin family, played early, key roles in Virginia’s ever-increasing reputation as a purveyor of fine wine.

Area theatergoers are probably familiar with Barboursville’s Four County Players, and their productions of “Shakespeare at the Ruins,” performed for many summers at the Barboursville site in Orange County. There are some stunning photographs of this setting; in fact, I had to almost force myself to read the book’s prose instead of being solely mesmerized by the visual beauty captured by Larson and other photographers given credit in the text.

Don’t fall into this seductive trap; there is much to learn about the long, sometimes difficult voyage from hope to fruition; from a dream to world-wide recognition of the vineyard’s contribution to the world of fragrant, luscious wine. In other words, from then to now.

The scope of “Barboursville Vineyards” is impressive. We learn not only of James Barbour’s accomplishments — he was governor of Virginia during the War of 1812, and also served as a United States senator — but of his family and agrarian pursuits.

There’a a disheartening photograph of the Barbour Mansion after it was destroyed by fire on Christmas Day 1884, and the history of its restoration and rebirth. Today, the elegant 1804 Inn is home to the equally elegant Palladio — a restaurant described as “a corner of Italy, without the jet lag.”

But the heart and soul of this book are the grapes, grown and lovingly tended until the time — and they — are ripe for harvesting, bottling and labeling. All this is documented in photographs.

There’s the winemaker, Luca Paschina, born in Torino, and the viticulturist, Fernando Franco, from Armenia, who has been at the Vineyards since 1947.

And there are photographs of grapes — in both purple bunches and liquid beauty — and row upon row of fertility.

All this, plus an historical text, placing everything into context, and culminating in a charming photograph of the author and his wife, on the balcony of the 1804 Inn.

Which brings me back to the Palladio. Since this is not my book, I had to be careful not to drool over pictures of the dishes served there — entrees and desserts so tempting … well, I will let you discover and perhaps taste them for yourselves.

Chiles T. A. Larson has been widely published in major magazines and newspapers. Among his credits, he served as an Air Force photographer, and is currently a contributing feature writer to several publications in Virginia. He lives in Williamsburg, where he both volunteers and teaches photography at the College of William and Mary.

Many achievements, to be sure, but I suspect that this book — an obvious work of love and research — will occupy a primary place on his eclectic resume.

Put “Barboursville Vineyards” on your coffee table, but first, read it. The book will not only impress your guests, but will serve to feed your own taste for Virginia history, the joys of the grape and the physical beauty of our environs.

Finally, as for celebrating our own little corner of the world’s bounty, it encompasses the kind of beauty that many of us take for granted, but to which — as Arthur Miller said in quite another context in one of his seminal plays — “Attention must be paid.”

The author of this book has paid attention.